Many cases of workplace sexual harassment involve quid pro quo harassment. A manager or someone else in a position of authority threatens a worker with employment consequences or promises them job-related benefits for submitting to their romantic or sexual demands.
Other times, coworkers might create a hostile work environment by targeting a worker for regular abuse and exclusion in the workplace. In such cases, employers generally have a legal obligation to intervene when a worker reports the harassment. Most professionals are aware of their protections when harassment comes from a coworker or supervisor. They may be less certain about their legal rights in cases where the person mistreating them is not an employee but is, instead, a customer.
What rights do workers have when customers engage in sexual harassment?
Businesses should prevent all harassment
Federal regulations prohibiting workplace sexual harassment do not differentiate between different sources of harassment. Employers must take action when an employee reports a customer mistreating them in a manner that could constitute sexual harassment. Repeated, unwanted advances, aggressive and inappropriate flirting and even unwanted physical contact could all occur in a customer-facing position.
Employees may not feel confident enough to assert themselves directly, which is why they may need to report the matter to a manager. The company should then take appropriate steps to protect the worker. Instructing an employee of the opposite sex of the targeted worker to handle the problem customer could be one option. Letting a manager serve that customer could also be a solution.
In cases involving egregious misconduct, permanently banning the customer from the business could also be a reasonable response to continued sexual harassment. Employers should not punish or retaliate against workers for reporting customer harassment or declining customer advances, even if doing so leads to a complaint from that customer.
If an employer either fails to address customer sexual harassment or retaliates against a worker who reports it, they may need assistance holding that company accountable. Consulting with a sexual harassment attorney can help the customer service professionals document the abuse they have experienced and hold an employer accountable for the impact that the ongoing harassment has had on a professional’s income and well-being.
